Spain Orders G.I. Arrests in Civilian's Death

Published: October 20, 2005

A Spanish judge issued an international arrest order for three American soldiers on Wednesday in connection with the killing of a Spanish journalist in Baghdad during the American invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The judge, Santiago Pedraz G?, of the National Court in Madrid, said the three might have committed murder and a ''crime against the international community'' on April 8, 2003, in Baghdad when an American tank fired a shell at the Palestine Hotel, where more than 100 journalists were staying.

Jos?anuel Couso Permuy, a cameraman with the Spanish television station Telecinco, and Taras Protsyuk, a Ukrainian-born cameraman with Reuters, were fatally wounded in the blast.

A Pentagon inquiry in 2003 concluded that the soldiers had been justified in firing as they had cause to believe the building was an enemy position, and had not known it was a hotel where journalists were staying.

Many Spanish judges and investigators say countries should be free to pursue suspects beyond their borders. The United States has said that could lead to politically motivated show trials in countries that lack the legal safeguards of the United States.

The judge wrote that the Bush administration had ignored two Spanish requests in 18 months for information on Mr. Couso's death.

The documents do not make clear if the judge plans to indict the soldiers, Shawn Gibson, Philip Wolford, and Philip de Camp, all of the Army.